To Consume Symbiotic Darkness
by NebulaBlade
Summary: A new symbiotic virus arrives to earth, desperate for dominance. But there's a catch: It needs a host. Only the strong will survive. Can the good stay good any longer? - Story is part of a much bigger universe/collection, but this specific story is the main timeline. Takes place after Avengers 2 & Captain America 3. Also includes a Vision/Scarlet-Witch SIDE romance. M for violence.
1. Two Toasters

Author's note:

Hey there! Thanks for taking time out to read my story! :D I really appreciate it. If you guys have any suggestions, comments, or anything to say then please let me know down below! :)

Disclaimer: _I do NOT own Marvel or anything related to it, and I do NOT write this story for ANY profit, and strictly for entertainment purposes._

This story **takes place after Avengers 2** (the movie "Age of Ultron"), and **it also takes place after Captain America 3: Civil War.**

That all being said... Please enjoy the story :)

* * *

The dark streets of New York glistened as a light trickle of rain poured down from above. The city never really did sleep, considering that for being three in the morning, the city was anything but quiet. There was constant traffic and late-night pedestrians. Among those pedestrians, stood a young woman, in a dark maroon overcoat, holding a black umbrella over her head. She stood at the corner of a street, tapping her foot impatiently and checking her watch. People passing by her quickly, helping her blend in. Wanda's eyes reflected the moonlight, holding herself up strongly as footsteps approached slowly behind her.

"Would you like to hear a joke?" came a familiar voice from behind her.

She chuckled, and agreed without needing to turn around.

"Two toasters are sitting on a counter." the voice says, revealing Vision now joining her underneath the umbrella, "One toaster turns to the other, and says: 'Do you ever feel empty inside?' The other toaster replies: 'Oh my God! A talking toaster!'" Vision smiled.

Wanda paused for a moment, trying to keep her cool… And then lost it, by bursting out laughing. "I get it! It's because you're the toaster, right?"

Vision took a step back, flabbergasted. He was not a toaster? He was clearly something much more. Could she not see that?

She continued to laugh, and he gave in, choosing not taking her comment seriously.

"Yes, very funny." he agreed in a monotone voice, "Although, I did not ask you to come all the way here to listen to my joke." He sighed, "I have something that I thought you may be interested in."

As she slowly recovered from her laughter outbreak, a newspaper settled in his hand. She raised an eyebrow as he handed it towards her.

She opened it up suspiciously, to read the headline: 'Sokovia riots still want justice! Suspected gathering this Friday! Lock your doors!'

"I don't get it." Wanda sighed, "Why do you show me this? It's just another stupid, and mad crowd angry for what we've done…" she gasped, "What I've done…"

"Many more lives would have been lost if you were not there Wanda. That makes you a hero" he argued, but knowing that it wouldn't help, he continued: "I want you to look closer here," he whispered, pointing at the cover photo.

They both leaned in, focusing on a small figure in the background. His chin was sharp, his hair messy and blond, and he wore a hoodie a size too small for him.

"There's no way. No. Impossible." Wanda argued, pain filling her voice.

"There's only one way to be certain. I thought it may be something… You and I may want to see for ourselves?"

Her face widened, "V! Do you know how dangerous that would be?! We would have to attend the riot just to look around! It's probably not even him!"

"Probably?" Vision echoed.

Wanda threw the newspaper against her face, somehow hoping it would help her come to her senses. "It cannot be. He died. You and I both saw it?! Yes?! EVERYONE saw it!" her voice now fluctuated with anger, yet she knew deep down inside that if there was a chance it was him… She had to know.

Vision watched her and patiently waited, knowing that she would eventually convince herself to go.

"It will be dangerous," she said.

"Yes. It will be."

"But what if we-"

"If we do get to any point of trouble, then I can-"

"You can what? Contact Stark? I can't V. If either Stark or Steve ever found out that we had met up…"

A long pause followed.

The silence was only slowly convincing her.

"Should I purchase the travel tickets?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I already have bought them. The plane leaves late tomorrow night."

"Good." she breathed, looking back at the newspaper. She knew it was probably foolish, but she had to know for sure. She looked one last time at the figure, and prayed that it really was who she thought it was.

She prayed that it really was her brother Pietro.


	2. The Journey Begins

**_AN: Hey guys! Originally I had posted the first chapter as a sort-of "test" if you will, to see how people re-acted to this story idea... And so far you guys are all eating it up! So if you really like it, please leave a review and let me know! It really does go a long way :)_**

 _ **As for the rest of the story... I plan to post a chapter every single day. So boom! You're welcome. And oddly enough, this type of story-line is actually part of a much larger... "universe" if you will. Eventually I plan to post more stories on my account, that will all be related to this same... "Villain," however he will cause so much chaos and destruction that I can't capture everyone's experiences all in once story! So there WILL be cross-overs between stories (don't worry, you don't have to read them all for it to make sense ;-) ) but if you're like: "Woah, what these characters are doing is so cool." then be sure to check out my other stories in the future, and you will be able to follow different characters in a similar timeline :)**_

 _ **That being said! Please enjoy! (P.S. If you catch any spelling or grammar errors, PLEASE let me know! I'm just a PM away. I can fix those ;) )**_

* * *

Wanda raced through the bustling crowds in the airport. Having previously been so accustomed to Stark's private jets, going back to a public airport seemed so new to her again. It was just one of the few downsides she felt when she joined Steve's team… Because there weren't any unlimited luxuries anymore. She closed her eyes, and tried hard to picture her brother standing next to her. He used to be there and guide her through busy places like these. He would take care of the tickets, he would get the bags checked, and he would even buy breakfast for her every early morning, at the same crappy coffee joint that seemed to exist in every airport. But all he ever asked in return, was for her hold his hand and stay close. Now, standing in the middle of 6 different airport gates that all looked the exact same, she hesitated. She knew she could figure it out, she was a smart girl and never was shy of a good challenge, but that didn't help her trying to concentrate through all the noise.

She had told Steve earlier that she needed to leave on "personal business." He had offered to help, but she insisted that she go alone, telling him that it was a little "too personal." Whether he bought it or not… She wasn't entirely sure, but he did give her leave for the next 7 days. That meant 1 day to fly there, 5 days to investigate, and 1 day to fly back.

After what seemed like an eternity later, she finally found her flight gate. She cursed Pietro quickly underneath the little breath she had left, for never showing her how to navigate herself through the airports… She sighed, and raced through as they were just closing the gate. She was officially the last one onto the plane.

 _Close call_ she chuckled to herself.

The plane was cold inside… However, not the kind of cold that makes you shiver and crave a heater, but the kind that's just cold enough to bring soft little goosebumps to your skin, and annoy you. The eerie air alone made her pull her light jacket tighter. She wore a light jacket, made of dark-stained denim. Or, at least it felt like denim… But when it came to keeping her warm, it utterly failed. It hardly even worked as a windbreaker at times, but she felt that it went well with the rest of her disguise: Dark black skinny jeans; a faded white and gray striped t-shirt underneath; and thick black glasses to top it all off. She also threw her hair up into a ponytail, making her look a lot more sporty and touristy. This also exposed the back of her neck, which wouldn't have bothered her so much, however the goosebumps from the cool air were slowly chilling their way up from her spine to her neck… But she just shrugged it off; Maybe things would heat up once they got moving.

She got to her seat, and paused before sitting down…

 _Where is Vision?_ She thought.

She knew that he had the ticket for the seat next to her, but she then realized that she hadn't seen him all morning. Although, granted she was late towards the gate, but that also meant that she was the last one in.

She slowly took her seat in the inner aisle, not liking the window seat as it made her uncomfortable. She watched as the airplane's door intensely for the next few moments, watching them seal and lock the airtight doorway. She checked her cell, stunned that he would be running so late. Minutes later, they prepared for take off, the seat next to her still empty… She began to check her cell over and over, hoping that maybe she missed a text or a call… But nothing was there. Thoughts now were racing through her head:

 _Where is he? Maybe he couldn't get away from Stark? Or did he ditch me? Did he stand me up? Wait a second… Did Stark set this whole thing up? Maybe this was all just an elaborate setup?_ Panic started to flood through her system… Perhaps Stark had decided to create a plan to get her away from Steve? What was she thinking! Her brother could never be alive! He was covered in bullets, and she witnessed it with her own two eyes.

The plane's engines roared loudly as the plane took off, making her flinch. _Too late to get off now_ she winced, clenching her seat tightly, thinking of all the possible traps or scenarios that could go wrong. She glanced at the people across the aisle… Were they real people? Or paid to sit there? Maybe they were mercenaries? She knew Tony was resourceful, and he could do just about anything he wanted. And right now, all that she felt like, was nothing more than just a little pawn on his big chess board! Now it was up to Tony to take the swing.

She threw her head against the back of the seat and shut her eyes… Her fingers started to fumble with the cell phone in her pocket.

 _Is it too late to call Steve?_ She wondered. Although, the image of Steve's face then ran through her mind, of all the disappointed and hurt he would probably feel when she told him that she was going to run off with Vision for a few days. _What would he even say? Would he even bother to come help and rescue her?_

She shivered at the thought, but then she started to feel a warmth begin to grow inside her, and the corner of her lips perked upwards into a small smile… _Of course he would. We're family._ She thought.

She knew deep down inside that he'd forgive her and help her in a heartbeat. Because simply put, that was Captain America. _S_ he could already hear him saying it… " _No soldier left behind."_

She then flipped out her cell phone, and pulled up Steve's contact.

Her thumb rested over the call button, and she hesitated for just a second more… As she thought she saw something for a second from outside the window. She leaned over to the window, and saw something again… _What the- Was that?_

 _No. It cannot be. We're already in the air!_

She looked again, her view limited, as she didn't sit right next to the window…

After another moment or two just to make sure, she nodded to herself to confirm that it was nothing.

She then looked back down at her phone again… And as she looked down, she saw a red circle appear from the airplane's floor... This circle began to rise, and quickly take shape. It rose upwards, forming into a head. A moment later, the body's arms appeared, then his frame and base, and then his legs even started to appear too!

 _Oh my God!_ She gasped, _he's phasing in through the floor!_

A moment later, Vision casually landed in the plane's seat. It was so graceful and subtle, nobody else in the whole plane had even seemed to notice!

He readjusted himself to attach his seat-belt and make it look like he had already been there the whole time. His colors also began to change… His face took a solid tan color, his features darkening and adding brightness in certain areas to create depth… The top of his head formed a flat dark brown, faking an ugly style of hair... And finally, the rest of his frame and body took on a jet shade of black, except for his hands. He looked almost like he was a normal human. Up close, he didn't look entirely real, but just a little further away and it could fool anyone.

"Sorry I'm late." Vision casually replied, "You have no idea how hard it was to get here. Or how hard it is to even match the speed of a moving airplane and move subtly into the right seat" he sighed.

Wanda sat in her chair, unable to move. Her mouth had been dropped open, and her cell phone was still in her hand. She was stunned that he was even here… Every thought about Stark's trap now fading away. She felt safe. Yet again, he was acting so casual, that she wondered if he even realized how much he had freaked her out by not warning her beforehand.

Vision raised an eyebrow, not sure how he should break the silence. He could tell she had been very distressed, and he knew that he better do something soon.

"Oh… My… God…" Wanda began, light tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't you _EVER_ do that again! Leaving me behind like that." She scolded, in a whispered tone. "I thought you had stood me up!" she cried.

Vision, not quite entirely sure about what he should do… Decided to do follow human behaviour. Within milliseconds, he connected himself to the airplane's local wifi, and 'googled' it. After less than a second and a half passed, he found a wikipedia article, and then knew exactly what to do.

"I'm sorry," he began, "I hope to never put you through that distress again."

He then wrapped his arm around Wanda, pulling her in for a half hug… "You can always trust me." he spoke, in a soft cooing voice. After seeing Wanda calm down a little bit, he hummed in a happy relief.

 _Thank you Mr. Google_ he thought to himself.

Wanda leaned into Vision deeper, but she had forgotten that her finger was still hovering above the "call" button on her cell. As she pressed into Vision's unusually soft/metallic synthesized body, she accidently pressed the green "talk" button, and dialed Steve.

In an instant, she jumped upwards, and out of panic she dropped her cell phone…

"No no no no no no no no no no" Wanda began to mutter frantically, reaching all over the airplane's floor for her cell phone.

Suddenly, behind her seat she heard The National Anthem begin to play. As she heard the muffled and distorted "Star spangled banner" play, she knew that it… Almost sounded just like a… oh no…

Like a ringtone.

"Oh, excuse me," came a familiar voice from behind her. "I'm so old these days, I can never figure out technology… Or 'airplane mode' for that matter." he chuckled, apologizing to the rest of the airplane passengers nearby.

Wanda slowly sat up. Having already found her phone, she pressed it into her pocket and slowly sank deeper and deeper into her airline seat. She could feel her face getting red., knowing that voice anywhere, it was as clear as daylight.

She looked over at Vision next to her. He too, had begun to sit up straight, pressing himself into the chair, hoping that he wasn't somehow yet noticed.

"Steve?" Wanda whispered, not having the courage to turn and look at him from behind her chair.

"Boy, good thing this is an 8-hour flight," he replied, leaning forward to get a better look, "because we've got a lot to talk about."

Wanda shut her eyes… Today has been nothing but a roller coaster.


	3. Skies so peaceful

_**AN: Hey guys! Thanks again for reading and leaving reviews :) You guys have requested longer chapters... So I'll definitely do my best with producing longer and more detailed content here in the future! I've already written this**_ **ch** **apter,** _ **but I can promise that chapter 4 will begin to be much lengthier! :)**_

 _ **Anyway, as always, please enjoy! Thank you guys so much for loving it so far. :D**_

* * *

The airplane buzzed smoothly through the air. The skies so peaceful and calm that evening, it was hard to believe that anything could disturb the peace that came within the airline…

Exceeppt, maybe the stare of death that came from the vast deep expanse of Steve's blue eyes.

 _Is he mad?! Is he… hurt?_ Wanda wondered.

She had explained everything to him, trying hard not to leave out any details, having chosen that telling Steve the truth was far better than trying to continue her lie any further... But now, looking at Steve as she told him that she was sorry… Nothing but pain filled her up.

 _Say something!_ She thought, Steve still staring her down. He sat in silence, not moving and not breaking his eye contact with Wanda. It also made it hard on her, seeing him in his disguise. He wore a white t-shirt, a brown leather jacket, blue denim, and a faded baseball cap. He definitely looked casual, but that didn't mean that the clothing helped the situation for even one second.

Vision, not knowing what to do, then decided to again do a quick Google search in his head… After finding an article on Urban dictionary, he leaned backwards and exclaimed: "Well… This is awkward." forcing a chuckle that have fooled anyone.

Wanda shot him a look. _That was a stupid thing to say_ Vision cringed, going back to the website in his mind to leave a negative comment on the urban dictionary he found.

Steve looked down and smiled, "Darnit Vision…" he muttered, breaking the silence "That threw me off." he chuckled.

 _So it did work._ Vision smiled, now leaving another reply on the same website.

Steve then looked back up, and raised an eyebrow. "Really Wanda? I'm a little hurt that you went to visit Vision without me knowing… But then to push your team out and go alone?"

"I know I know" Wanda cut him off, practically knowing the rest, "I… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Steve… I was trying not to get you involved in all of this…" Wanda started breaking down a little bit. She was a strong girl, but right now, in this moment… She was pushing away all that she had left. Steve and the team was all that she had, and she had carelessly pushed them all away to go try to find her dead brother with an enemy.

 _So stupid!_ She cursed herself, _How could I? This is not what I wanted…_ A tear formed in her eye.

Vision leaned forward and put his hand on her shoulder, offering his comfort. She accepted and leaned a little closer towards him.

Steve, seeing that Vision was now closing in, knew that he needed to do something. She had still left unannounced, and had still backstabbed the team… But it was all interesting to him too, because he had originally planned on giving her her space. Later on however, Scott had slipped and told him that she had accidently dropped an airline ticket to Sokovia in the hallway… Scott had picked it up and gave it back to her, but he got a good glimpse at the ticket. It didn't any make sense to either of them why she would be going back to a place she hated. Especially while it had recently been rioting. At that point, he knew that something needed to be done.

"I'm gonna make you a deal." Steve spoke up, leaning in further to talk to them. He sat directly behind them, which made it awkward to get Wanda to look directly at him… But he managed. "I'll forget about this whole incident… And I'll even help you go down and look for your brother with Vision. But starting now, you need to be honest with me." Steve paused, letting it sink in, "Fully."

"Soldiers need to stick together, and I need to be able to trust my team. I want to be able to trust you Wanda, but for that to happen, anything along these lines can't happen again." he stated firmly.

"Okay." she whispered, "I will."

A short pause went by, almost to take a deep breathe as Steve and Wanda were both happy to be able to start trusting each other again.

"You." Steve announced, turning aside to face Vision… "What's Stark's game? Why should I trust you? Why should I trust any of this?" he questioned, a look of pain and loathing in his eyes. Steve wanted to trust Vision, he really did… But he just couldn't tell which side he was on anymore.

Vision, taken back by Steve's sudden mood shift towards him, felt offended.

 _This is my fault_ Vision reminded himself, pausing to contemplate what to say next… He wished that he could tell him the full truth. That he showed Wanda the picture, because he had a special hope for her… That somehow, by his discovery of the photo, her happiness would also become  his happiness. As he was a synthezoid (He hated the term android. He could still feel emotions, he was just… More artificially created, rather than born), he had always struggled to find true happiness. How could he possibly pleasure in everything else that normal humans indulge in? To him they seemed pointless and boring to partake of himself… But for some reason, the one thing that he had always enjoyed was Wanda's presence and her happiness. Somehow by just being around her, he felt more alive than he ever could.

Since the fallout between Steve and Tony, he's done nothing but miss her. This photo he carried gave him hope. Hope that maybe, if at worst, he could at least reunite the lost friendship that they carried before.

But to explain all of that to Wanda and Steve now seemed illogical, and he felt that somehow it would take so long to explain, that it would complicate things and leave him the bad guy. No- now was not the time for him to reveal the truth about why he was so hopeful to journey with Wanda to Sokovia.

Therefore, Vision decided to tell Steve the second best answer he could come up with.

"I am on the side of life." he started, "Stark doesn't have a clue that I'm here, and if there's a possibility to rescue Pietro, then I will fight for him." he proclaimed.

Steve pulled back, a little impressed with Vision's answer. "You know for a fact that Stark doesn't know you're here? How do we know that you're not sending him a live feed right now?" Steve pressed again, not fully believing Vision.

"He's been… Throwing wild parties day and night for the last few weeks now… I believe in an attempt to forget about everything that's been happening." he sighed, "The team has been 'on call' for quite a while now, but Stark's so pre-occupied, he hasn't even bothered to notice me for days now." Vision huffed, trying not to be awkward about his team's choices.

Steve wasn't 100% convinced, but he did know that Vision was here to fight for the right… So from that point forward, Steve decided to keep Vision along… But he kept an eye on him. At the first sign of hostility, he would strike Vision down faster than you could say: "Stark."

The sky so peaceful and calm that evening, it was hard to believe that anything could disturb the peace that came within the airline...


	4. Heads you win, Tails I lose

_**AN: Hey guys! I'm so excited! This is the last slow chapter before all of the action picks up! So be sure to stay tuned, because chapter 5 gets really good! As well as a lot longer. I have heard your cries! And dare I say: I will be writing longer chapters! Muahahaha!**_

 _ **With that. Please enjoy, and be sure to review if you really like :) Thanks! - Yours truly.**_

* * *

The airport was probably the nicest feature of all of Sokovia. It was nice, clean, tidy, and had a modern architecture to it… Although very obviously built by Americans. However, compared to the rest of the city… It stood out like a clean, polished stick in the mud.

The air was hot and humid, reeking with the smell of old meat and mud. Sokovia wasn't 100% a slum, but it wasn't at all what you'd consider to be a moderately decent city either. It was very clear that since the Ultron incident, rebuilding became a huge struggle for the people. They weren't quite sent back to the stone age… But most of the resources they had previously were now scattered, and everyone seemed to need to cluster all together to survive. The place was so packed full of people, and tents in the streets, that nobody could possibly blame them for not being able to keep their city clean.

Wanda, Vision, and Steve crammed into the back of a small Taxi, feeling a little too close to each other in the two-seater, the whole way they went down to the hotel. Once they got there, Vision had to withdraw money divertedly through Stark's bank account through the local ATM outside the hotel they were staying at. He made sure to take enough out that it would get them enough for a single room and food for the next 5 days, however not too much of a withdraw, to avoid being noticed by Stark. After using some more divert tricks to help cover his footsteps with Stark's credit card history, Vision finally withdrew a good couple hundred Sokovian dollars. They had agreed to purchase only a single room earlier, to help save cost and keep them off of Stark's radar.

After entering their hotel room, it was very clear that it was going to be a long week… The old brick walls held large brown and sticky stains from leaks the roof;The curtains contained holes of every size; moths buzzed in and out of each hole possible; The floor was cracked, and the vinyl tiling looked so old, that a slight line of moss and fungus was beginning to grow on the very edge where the crack and the floor met. The bed however, was very neatly pressed, and looked like it had never been slept in before a day in it's life.

It was quite clear that the bed was going to be the nicest thing to sleep in, and they all couldn't share… And seeing that Vision only required a tenth amount of sleep/recharge that all the other Avengers did, it was clear that it was down between Wanda and Steve.

Steve pulled out a coin from his back pocket.

"Heads, you win. Tails, I lose." he smirked, quickly tossing the coin into the air. Wanda obviously did not catch onto the fact that he had already given her the bed… But she smiled widely as he announced her victory, making her feel a winner.

He himself made due with a small chair in the corner of the room, finding a way for it to be slept in.

Vision watched as Wanda sprawled across the bed. "I get the bed all to myself!" she chimed. "Sorry Vision" she winked, teasing him lightly. She smiled and then paused, now glancing at Steve, who was in the bathroom now brushing his teeth. "Wait a second…" she grinned and gave Steve a look, feeling previously so innocent, "Heads I would have won, and tails you would have lost? Really?"

Steve saluted her, and continued to brush his teeth. Her smile widened, and she hugged the bed with her whole body once again, feeling even more happy that she had 'won' it.

Vision only stood in silence… Watching the whole thing occur, And feeling… something new. Something that he was not used to. It was a combination of admiration, and a combination of lust. Was it… Jealousy? No, that was impossible. He didn't have feelings for Wanda. No, he couldn't. No… No… No… Wanda and Steve just shared a special kind of friendship… A special kind of happiness. That was all it was, right? But no, that can't be it. Standing there in that very room, in a way, Vision almost felt violated - Or even worse, stepped on.

 _This was supposed to be_ _me_ _making Wanda feel special._ He realized, _It was supposed to be_ _me_ _that made her happy…_

Vision continued to watch in silence, as the two of them continued to laugh and poke fun at each other. This was more than just hard for him… Hell, it seemed almost heart-wrenching! But… He's never felt that way before? Well, at least before the Civil War that is. Back then, the two of them had been such close friends. Sharing each other's company couldn't have been easier or simpler! And now, he felt like a child, as he was hoping that somehow out of all the chaos and all the fighting, that they might be able to put it all behind them and somehow bring things back together.

But now that Steve was here… Vision couldn't help but feel like a sudden uncrossable wall had been put between them, dividing Wanda and himself even further.

Vision stepped forward, looking for the right words to say to Steve. However, before anything could come out, Steve pulled a small box no bigger than his hand out of his suit-case and set it onto the floor. "I hope you guys don't mind," Steve chimed, "but I did bring some backup just in-case something went south on the plane… And now I can't leave it in this box forever." He lifted the box's lid, and flicked the rest of the box. _Probably not the best time to talk_ Vision reassured himself, taking a step backwards now, again feeling stepped on.

Wanda raised an eyebrow. A bright white flash of light filled the room, making everyone flinch. In front of everybody stood no other than Scott Lang.

"Ahhhh! God. It feels AMAZING to stretch! Damn." He moaned, twisting his body every which way. He then looked directly and Wanda and smirked. "Sorry Wanda," Scott started, "But it looks like you might have to share the bed tonight. I've had a little too much of sleeping on hard surfaces today. Like, seriously. Do you guys even know how hard it is to get comfortable in this suit? Because it's really next to impossible!"

Wanda's jaw dropped. He threw himself onto the bed next to her and made himself comfortable, making fake snoring sounds to help taunt her loss.

She chuckled, knowing that there was no way that she'd be able to change his mind. Although, she still couldn't help wanting to feel like a winner…..

Using her magic, she pushed the sheets upwards, and threw Scott back to the floor.

"Yes, but it's not time for bed just yet!" she teased.

Vision felt another sting of jealousy again, as he watched Scott get back to his feet, and complain about how his suit may be damaged. Being of artificial nature, Vision had no need for sleep tonight… Or the bed for that matter, as he only required about an hour or two of actual sleep at most. However, now that Steve AND Scott were now here, he felt even further away from her than ever.

"Vision, you know Scott right?" Steve stood up, breaking Vision's concentration.

Vision hesitated, "Yes… The growing man, right?"

"Oh hey, yeah. You flew right through me that one time! Heh." Scott paused and stared at the floor, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah… heh… That uh, really freaked me out."

Vision just smiled, not really wanting to help give comfort in this awkward situation.

"Alright team." Declared Steve, bringing everyone back together, breaking the silence, "Let's break down for the night, and get our energy up for tomorrow. I'll head out right now and pick up some of the foreigner's clothing. Hopefully it will help us blend it, and look much less touristy and suspicious. We did rip apart half of their city after all."

A huff of agreement passed through the room.

"Vision, if you'd be willing, I'd love to have you get a headstart on our search tonight while we all get our rest. Hopefully you can discover clues and more information about where Pietro just might be." Steve paused, "If he's here." he added cautiously.

Wanda looked downwards, hoping she wouldn't let down the team if he wasn't here after all… _I just… I need to know. If there's even a chance, I need to take it._ She thought, giving Steve a look. He caught onto her thoughts quickly.

"We'll do everything we can though. If he's here, we'll get to him. For right now however, we'll need to start preparing to fit in with the super riot on Friday. That gives us two days to hopefully find Pietro before the chaos starts… Otherwise, we're gonna have to dig real deep and get our hands real dirty. Everyone with me?"

The room nodded in agreeance before breaking down for bed. Sure enough, as discussed, Steve managed to purchase a handful of clothing for the team, and Vision left the Hotel to begin his search, the sun just beginning to set. He felt awkward for not saying much to the others before he left, but just a phase through the wall later, and he was already on his way.

 _Hmmm… If I were Pietro, where would I go?_ Vision wondered.


	5. A new life

_Hmmm… If I were Pietro, where would I go?_ Vision wondered.

He began at first by floating carelessly through the city, but it became clear to him very quickly that he should consider walking.

It was almost midnight, but yet the city buzzed with activity. After the Ultron incident, apparently there was a ton of rebuilding to be done. Construction workers raced up and down the streets carrying heavy loads and equipment, rebuilding the streets and the bridges to the large crater. Women Carried vases of water and food to help and the workers. Farmers and market kiosks were meeting up to restock their stores/stands, and keep the businesses going. Vision even noticed a few businesses trying to repair cars or get ahead of production.

Seeing All of the progress made Vision smile. He was more than happy to see that the city was growing.

While during his roaming, he also learned that Sokovia had seemed to have named the crater "Devil's playground." He took great curiosity in the crater… Small tents outlined the center of the city, each glowing a shade of an orange glow, Illuminating the rest of the crater with a golden accent. It truly was beautiful underneath all the stars. As he watched the workers work and rebuild pathways and buildings on the outside of the pit, he could feel nothing but happiness for all of the human beings.

He continued to stroll along the street, also utilizing his ability to see infrared heat to check on those who slept inside their brick houses, making sure that they were safe and sound. He also used it to see if there were any recent traces of quicksilver. If he ran past recently, then the ground's heat signature would definitely show it for a brief time.

And then he saw it. He saw the symbol. An ugly spray-painted 'x' was drawn over a large "A" clearly standing for "Avengers." As Vision observed the logo, he also noticed that among the same alleyway of buildings, were each of the Avenger's faces among them, each having a large red 'x' that was drawn on top of them, clearly demonstrating the level of hatred the artist had for them. As Vision walked further down the alleyway, seeing more and more of his old team's faces, he felt only pity for the people now.

 _Do they really feel this way about us?_ He wondered. He then paused as he came across a larger, clearly more important and detailed painting of the helicarrier rescuing everyone else from the floating crater. This painting did not have a large 'x' in front of it, but instead had large bold letters underneath, reading: "God's rescue from Hell." Above the large floating city, were faded silhouettes of the Avengers, each shoving the rock downwards towards the city.

Vision paused. _They do know that we work with Shield… Right?_ He wondered, still taking in the hatred from all of the art when his thoughts were interrupted by a voice from further down the alleyway.

"Yo! Brother my brother! Do you hate the gods too?" The voice cried. Vision turned to see a group of 50-80 men and women, all carrying signs, marching behind this one man. Vision looked at the signs they were carrying. One read: "Make them pay!" Another read: "Our Gods don't want to destroy the Earth!" Or, "Justice MUST ring!" or, "NO MORE GODS ON EARTH!" and even, "It's time for man to rule it's own earth."

"Join us!" he cried, now passing Vision in his march. Feeling hurt, Vision chose not to join in. Even if he wanted to try to gather information from the crowd, he knew it would not be wise to join in the hatred towards the other heros.

"JUSTICE! Make 'em pay! JUSTICE! Make 'em pay! JUSTICE! Make 'em pay!" they shouted over and over again. Vision backed away, trying not to gather attention. It was a very small crowd, but they were definitely stirring attention. Especially for being 3 in the morning. Some windows and lights even came on in nearby buildings as they marched. Some people shouted: "Go to bed!" or "You woke up my baby. Thanks you sons of-" and others would shout: "No more gods!" and "Justice be done!" as they would march past.

 _Such controversy_ Vision shrugged to himself, _people are definitely weird._

After doing some more digging and wandering, Vision decided to set back for his group. As he wandered through the streets, weaving back and forth through the morning traffic, he caught sight of flashing lights, and police officers pacing back and forth in the street. Curious, he strolled towards the scene…

A man lie in the center of the street, spasming and gagging for breath. The police force helping hold curious citizens back while paramedics attempted to help the man on the scene. Vision could not identify the cause of the man's suffering. Even after multiple and rapid Google searches, he still found nothing as to the cause of what was happening…

After pushing through to get a closer look, he looked the man over. He was muscular, strong, and looked like he was a hard worker. His skin was covered in little black scabs, and long yellow cysts ran all over his body. His cries for help, and begging to be shot was quickly drowned out by the sound of sirens and screaming from the crowd. Vision felt a great nauseousness hit him, the whole world starting to spin. "It's the plague!" he heard a woman shout, "it is not yet dead!" she continued to scream.

Vision felt consumed… The man looked straight at him, his eyes completely black, with something inside of his eyes where the pupils should have been… Tunnel-vision occurred, and Vision could no longer concentrate. Something was… Calling him… Pulling him in…

 _Closer, closer, CLOSER!_

He could hear his own consciousness screaming at himself. He held out his hand towards the man, unable to control himself, everything beginning to go black… He was losing all control.

Just inches away from the man's hand, he felt a strong hand grab his arm, and pull him away from the scene…

The man then collapsed. All Vision could remember was watching the man's eyes return from all black to natural white human-like eyes as he died.


	6. Do you know no pain?

Vision's artificial pupils dilated, feeling like he had been waken up from a long deep sleep.

"What was that all about?!" came a familiar voice, "are you trying to make a scene?!"

Still feeling dazed, he then looked towards his rescuer, and was met with large hazelnut glistening eyes, and a young face…

It was that very moment where the whole world went still. The crowd's buzzing became muffled, and this girl -year this young girl- was the only thing Vision could see. _What is going on with me?_ Vision scolded himself, but was unable to snap out of this trance-like state he got as he gazed into her eyes. Her hair was curly, elegant but messy. Her chin was sharp, her round but long. Her eyes carried a look unlike any other… A look of pure… Pure… Frustration? Vision fully couldn't tell as she sat there chewing him out for getting too close. Vision, as dazed as he was, only watched her releasing her struggle, not hearing a single word she actually said. He heard birds fly by, chirping happily. He dreamed of a rainbow, the two of them sharing the pot of gold they'd find from under that rainbow, as well as sharing each other as they were together. Her lips moved, and her little tiny nose flared back and forth… The way her eyebrows curled back and forth made Vision want to almost start crying...

 _She's… So beautiful_ he thought. _She's so stunningly-_

WHAM!

Vision took to the ground, landing on all fours.

A kid laid on his back next to him on the ground, groaning in pain. A wrecked blue bike lay half-way on top of him.

"What's the big idea man?!" he shouted, soothing his knee from road rash.

Vision glanced at the boy, and then back up towards the girl he had just met.

His jaw then dropped, _Was that Wanda!?_

He looked back at the boy.

"I- I'm sorry." Vision began, trying to figure out what was going on, "I did not mean to-"

BLAM!

Vision was thrown to the ground again, his back now hurting from being hit twice. He looked directly towards the boy, and realized that the kid wasn't mad at him… But someone behind him.

 _Oh._

Vision felt another pair of fists begin to strike his back, but he was prepared this time. He phased quickly, and the fists went right through him, smashing into the asphalt below. There was a yelp of pain, but Vision didn't miss a beat, throwing himself upwards and landing a clean uppercut right on his attacker's jaw. The attacker stuttered backwards, dazed, but somehow ignoring the blood now spilling from his nose onto his face and clothes.

Vision blinked, noticing the same yellow bumps on his skin as the other dead man he had seen much earlier. This man was noticeably stronger and more defined, his veins bulging in his skin, the bumps and cysts pulsing at the same rate as the rest of his body… However, if it wasn't his enhanced strength that was throwing Vision's mojo off now, it was the man's eyes.

Again similar to the man on the ground, who's eyes were all void and black… This man's eyes also had little golden dots in the center of where his pupils would normally rest.

This man clearly had many issues, however for some reason the man picked himself back up and attempted to throw another punch towards Vision once more.

 _You just won't give up, will you?_ He thought. As the man ran towards him, he heard an officer behind him shout into his radio. _We're gonna have to make this quick._

Vision blocked the sloppy punch gracefully, grabbing the man's wrist and twisting it above his own head, causing him to fall to his knees before Vision.

The man writhed and gnarled, with the ever-so-slight foam falling from his mouth, clearly sick. But he did not gnarl in pain… Instead, he gnarled in disgust and hatred. He writhed and wiggled trying to get his hand free to throw another punch, but Vision's grip was too strong. Vision then knelt down to his level, still twisting the man's wrist to prevent him from fighting back. Although, he was impressed with the man's will to fight. Any other man would have given up and attempted to run by now.

"Tell me, "Vision began, staring the being right in his golden eyes. "Why do you not wince in pain?"

The man stopped growling and smirked, trying to reach for Vision now with his other half-way free hand, however Vision already had that arm pinned down too.

"Do you not feel pain?" Vision twisted his arm now even tighter, expecting surrender or him to start talking. Instead, the man continued to smile in crazed hatred and anger.

"Nothing?"

Vision heard a snap, and the man's arm went loose and wiggly.

 _Perhaps I twisted a little too hard…_ Vision sighed.

Not missing the opportunity, the man threw his limp and floppy arm out of Vision's grasp and put his hand directly onto Vision's chest. Quick to respond however, Vision again grabbed the man's wrist (No matter how squishy it was, now also feeling where the bone had snapped). Vision was about to push his arm back when he realized that all the man wanted to do was touch him. He paused then, for some reason, and decided to let him.

 _What are you doing…?_ Vision wondered. For brief moments he could feel himself getting slightly nauseous as before, just like with the man he had watched die… But now he felt stronger and less vulnerable to whatever effect was attempting to overcome him. After a good 10-15 seconds later, the smile quickly ran away from the man's face, and turned into fear.

"You- You're… I… It can't' be!" he finally spoke. Vision raised an eyebrow, "Yes? I am what?"

The man's eye's grew wide. "You're... "

BANG!

Vision flinched, seeing a large bullet hole now in the man's forehead. He watched closely as the yellow orbs inside of his eyes dissolved and he fell to the ground, dead.

Vision looked up and behind him, seeing an team of officers and trained militia behind him, all with their guns pointed directly at him. One brave officer stood in front of the whole crowd, right up next to Vision, with small smoke rising from his gun. His finger twitched, clearly hesitating if he should attempt to shoot Vision as well.

"You… You're not turning?! What the hell?"

Vision raised an eyebrow at the officer, and then realized that he was so close, that he'd probably pick up on his disguise if he didn't try to get away soon.

"That… Crystal in your head… What is that? Who are you?"  
 _Oh no…_ Vision winced, _This isn't going to end well._

"You…" the officer paused, "You're one of them. You're one of the Gods who ruined OUR CITY!" he screamed, now gathering the attention of everyone nearby.

Vision winced even more, suddenly taking in the large angry crowd that had formed from the fight, and was now growing even more. He had not realized how much attention he had managed to attract. He looked up behind them all, and locked eyes with Wanda. As he looked at her from the distance, he could tell she was disappointed. This was supposed to be trying to find her brother quietly… Not gathering attention, and having to hide the whole time. And so far, he had done nothing but make the mission all that more difficult for his team. This wasn't at all helping.

Vision watched as Wanda turned and left the scene. He felt like nothing but a monster. The officer clicked his gun, trying to get his attention once more.

 _What have I just done?_


	7. Believe in me now

Hey Guys! I'm extremely excited to be posting this chapter! All of the other chapters previous have been lead-ups to this chapter, and the chapters to follow! It's time to get juicy! :D

Also, thank you guys so much for all of your constant feedback! It's totally awesome, and really helps me feel confident in what I'm putting out there for you guys to read. So! As requested, here is a much longer chapter :D

Enjoy!

* * *

The man asked his question again, this time louder and more angry as he itched the trigger of his gun. Vision only sat in sad silence, planning his escape. Should he phase into the ground? Should he lie to the officer and pretend he's human? No, he wouldn't buy it. Maybe even get in a fight? No, too innocent.

He weighed his options carefully.

"So. You're a silent tough guy, huh?" he quieted his voice and leaned in close to Vision's face…

"Tell me." he spat into the ground. "If God were to bleed… Who would believe in him anymore?"

Vision smirked, seeing the man very unsubtly reaching into his back pocket for something. Being who he was… Vision did not bleed. Matter of fact, to him, it seemed almost opposite. He'd self repair over time, and in a matter of a week or so he would be as good as new. Just as long as the damage isn't fatal. This being known, Vision only stood still as the man lashed out sloppily and sliced a large gash into his face with a knife. His artificial cheekbone now exposed, and his face almost split in half. Sure enough however, there was no blood.

He knew that he easily could have blocked it, dodged it, or even phased right through it… Especially for how sloppy the man was with a knife. But, he figured it was time to be more bad-ass than that. He looked up towards this man and smirked.

"I do not bleed. Do you believe in me now?" Vision announced. The crowd stood silent, frozen with fear. The artificial skin of his face hung casually in front of his face, revealing the cyborg he was underneath. He glanced at Wanda, noticing her now pushing away from the scene.

 _That's my cue_ Vision thought, phasing himself downwards through the concrete. As he went downward, the crowd attempted to rush towards him all at once, arms held out like a wild pack of crazed and hungry beggars, thirsty to see the blood.

Before he knew it, Vision found himself inside the depths of the city's sewer system. However, it was not at all a good idea as he looked out in front of him. He even debated phasing back upwards into the crowd… But as he stood there, he saw only countless dead bodies spread all over the ground. Each, with faded yellow scars and scrapes on their skin, having been torn up, ripped apart, and some even rotting alive. The sight was un-nerving, making his artificial stomach turn.

Vision slowly began to float through the tunnels, making his way through the city using a Google Map that he was connected to in his head. He noticed that as he hovered by, the cuts and scars would begin to glow the closer he got them, as if they were coming alive or stirring up energy. The bodies still dead, not moving nor re-animating… However, Vision watched carefully as the glow of the dead cysts illuminated the walls and the sewers. The glows reflection moved along the wall and bounced in the sewage water as vision floated through the muck. The bodies getting brighter and brighter as he close to new ones, and fading back into darkness as he got further away from the ones he had already passed.

Suddenly, there was one particular corpse that caught his interest. Vision stopped to observe her. She was a female construction worker, wearing torn working clothes. She was particularly beefy, clearly having had been very strong and tough. Her jaw hung loosely from her mouth, and her eyes were wide open, staring directly at Vision. Although unnerving, what intrigued him however, were the cysts on her specifically. She had already been glowing before he got to her. But even more strangely… The cysts on her skin were… moving.

He watched a specific glowing scar move from her wrist, all the way up to her shoulder, and then to her neck. The skin almost seemed to damage itself in the process, and then healed itself quickly as the cyst moved, leaving no trail. It was incredible, the scars seemed practically alive!

Fascinated, Vision held out his hand to touch it… It's glow getting stronger as he approached it. Almost as if he was somehow giving off an aura of energy.

 _What are you?_ Vision reached out his hand, _closer, closer, closer!_

And then he heard it. A scream in the distance, so loud that it made Vision jump and pull back, instantly phasing and floating into the air. His eyes darting in every direction to find the source of the scream.

Then another scream sounded, this time closer. And then another, and another.

Vision looked down, and heard moaning cries from underneath him… The bodies all starting to re-animate, ripping apart each other apart and crawling over the other to try to reach Vision. As freaky as it was, Vision knew he couldn't phase for much longer and it was time to go. He began to phase upwards when suddenly he heard it, and froze.

 _What the?_

And again the noise came. The dirty water zipped into a straight line, whooshing upwards in a mad fury. Something very fast very obviously looking for something swooshed by. Probably looking for him.

 _Pietro?_

He froze, now slightly dephasing to get a better look. A dead corpse gnawed mindlessly at his leg, as the other zombies attempted to crawl out of the muck.

"Show yourse-!" he got caught off as suddenly a large fist hit him square in the face, throwing Vision straight into the greasy stained wall. As Vision began to regain his balance, the wind rushed away, zipping off to his left. He looked to his left, wondering where he went, before being struck once again from behind. And then again from the front. And then once behind the head. And then the leg, then the gut, the head again, his ribcage, his arm, and then his neck again.

Vision couldn't take the beating for much longer. Using Stark's fighting algorithm, he predicted the timing of the next punch, and phased completely, just in time to allow the fist to fly right through him. Sure enough, bones cracked and crunched, having gone straight through Vision's head, and into the concrete wall behind him.

Vision looked up and smirked, to see Pietro standing just mere inches in front of him now, holding his bloody wrist in surprise. His eyes were solid black, surely enough, having been consumed by the virus. Vision watched as Pietro's hand began to heal at a rapid rate, the scars and scabs now racing in circles around his hand.

 _I need to find the others and get out of here!_ He thought.

Without hesitation, he immediately phased straight back upwards into the city, leaving Pietro standing there looking at a blank wall. He knew that he was now low on energy, and that he had better recharge soon... Else he may never phase the same way again.

As he finished phasing through the floor, he felt relief in the fact that he had landed in the middle of the street, and not into a wall or house.

"HEY! THERE HE IS!"

Vision froze, and turned to watch a very large, and very angry crowd forming quickly behind him. In front of the crowd, was that same man who he had seen leading the previous crowd earlier.

 _This isn't gonna be good…_ Vision frowned.

* * *

Wanda re-joined Steve on the rooftop. They had only been up for about an hour now, but it was more than enough time to build a hideout inside of a half-destroyed and abandoned building. They had a decent view of the whole city. Allowing them to track all motion that occurred, giving them the advantage. Steve sat tucked away behind a broken window, searching around with a pair of Binoculars.

"You're sure it was him?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you! He looked right at me." Wanda shook her head, "But... For some reason, it seemed like he hardly recognized me. It has to be him though. The officer even called him a God!"

Steve nodded, still scanning the city carefully. "I'm glad you got out when you did. The city is erupting into complete chaos."

Scott stepped into the room, his Ant-suit on, and his helmet resting underneath his arm.

"Do you have a location yet?" he asked.

"No, not yet. Hold tight scott. I'm still-" Steve cut himself off, and paused as he stared into his binoculars.

"What? You're still what?" Scott pushed.

"Uh… I found him."

"What? Where! Let me see." Wanda grabbed the binoculars. Sure enough, Vision was in full sprint, running down the street. A very, very, very large crowd chased him closely behind. Now that he was directly in their sights, Vision stood out like a firecracker on a dark night.

Why does he just… I dunno… Jump through the wall? Can't he do that?" Scott asked. "I mean, he flew through me once!"

"Hmmm. I don't know." Steve contemplated. "His disguise recoloring is fading out too. His face almost seems… Ripped in half? He does not look good."

They watched for a minute or so, waiting for Vision to hopefully start running closer to their building. Vision circled around the block a few times, losing parts of the crowd at a time… But he finally took a right turn, and was now on the same street as their hideout was located.

As if on cue, Steve went to his bag, and pulled out a small rubberized ball.

"You ready Scott?"

"Ready as ever!"

Scott put on his helmet and shrunk, climbing into the small rubberized ball.

"Boy, have I told you that I'm really not a fan of his Idea?"

"Yes, like twenty times now. But I need you to relax Scott, it'll be over before you know it." Steve reassured, twisting the cap of the rubber ball. Scott was now sealed inside.

"That's what you always say!" Scott complained.

"C'mon Vision…" Steve whispered, "Just a little closer…"

Scott re-adjusted uncomfortably in the ball. "Hey, have I ever told you guys that I'm afraid of -"

Steve threw the ball off the roof.

"HEIIIIGHTS!"

Thud.

The ball landed right behind Vision, making him turn around curiously.

Scott, although now dazed from the hard landing, quickly pressed a button on his wrist and grew to giant size. He wasn't at all as tall the last time he'd gone big while fighting Stark's team however, but he now stood a good few stories tall; Just enough to scare the crowd, but not too big that he faced difficulty moving swiftly.

"Now scott!" Steve shouted over the intercoms.

Scott huffed, and bent down towards the crowd, getting himself into a football stance. Then, he did the most ridiculous thing he could possible do. He directly roared at the crowd. - And although it felt absolutely silly, if it wasn't for the added size… Scott would have wet his own pants by now, with how deafening the roar was.

Sure enough, the entire mob froze to a halt. Scott tried hard not to laugh, when he saw one guy on the front lines trip and fall flat onto his face.

"Boo!" Scott shouted playfully, sending the whole crowd jumping backwards a few steps.

"So, the gods walk among us!" shouted a man, now pushing forward from the crowd. Vision, now entering another building, met up with Wanda on the bottom floor. He looked behind him and recognized the man now standing in front of the crowd. It was the same man that he had seen in the alleyway that night, who asked him to join them in hatred. It was clear at this point, that this man was the leader of the rebellion of sorts. And now, that he was in the sunlight, Vision got a way better look at him. He was Latino, most likely mexican. His hair was much longer than usual, stretching to his shoulders. A leather jacket almost too big for him stretched out intimidatingly, adding to his odd complexion. He wore a casual brown shirt underneath, with the words: "Maharos" stretched across the front of it, and a neon pink bandana stuck out on his arm, a proud symbol of thieves rested on it. It looked unusual on him, however he himself also seemed to be a very odd man… So it didn't matter much. Vision was too far away and too exhausted to get a better look than that, but he assumed that all of those symbols and words probably had a greater significance.

"So uh… You clearly know who I am." Scott started, "I'm a god!" he chuckled, and then froze as he realized that everyone was taking him seriously.

"I'm the uh… Ant… God." he stuttered, not knowing what else to say. He heard Steve snort on the intercom in his ear, as he nodded confidently.

The crowd just stared at him silently, full of anger and hatred.

"So uh… Who might you be?"

The whole crowd, except for their leader, all jumped back at once. It was clear that Scott had just offended some kind of royalty by the gesture.

"You know not of who I am?" the leader twitched.

Scott stared blankly at him and shrugged.

"My name... is Fernando leBoeuf. I am the leader of the great Machincha Maharos."

Scott continued to stare blankly, and then broke the silence. "Ohhhhh, I get it! It's because it says that on your shirt. Oh, I see now." Scott chuckled casually. "See guys? His shirt! It says Maharos. And, you know. He's like, the leader of the … What was the first word again?"

"Machincha... " Fernando whispered confidently, feeling a rush of satisfaction and passion rush through him as he breathed the words. He paused, and held his hand to his ear, and then looked back up towards Scott.

"Mr, Ant God. Allow me to demonstrate my abilities…" he smirked, raising his hand into the air, in form of a gesture.

On que, a sniper round fired from a distance. Then another, and another. Scott was quick to shrink, but not fast enough! He took a bad hit to the shoulder, and another to his upper back. He flinched in pain, and began to shrink. While going to a smaller size, another sniper rifle round pierced his lower leg. Luckily however, since he was big at the time, the bullet holes seemed tiny and miniscule… allowing minimal bleeding. However, the wounds would still need to be attended to soon. If they didn't pull the bullets out and patch him up soon, it would mean serious damage.

Using muscle memory, he quickly summon an army of local ants, and sent them straight towards the charging angry mob… Now slowing them down, and causing them to all panic in fright. While they were distracted, Scott slipped away and made his way back to the lookout.

As he booked it up the stairs, now back in full size again, his leg throbbed in pain with each step he took. He could feel the warm bullet shift in his body as he climbed up the stairway.

 _Just keep moving, just keep moving, Just… Keep… "_ Moving!" Scott grunted out loud.

He slowed to a limp, and continued to hobble upwards. "Steve… you up there? I could uh… really use a hand on the- augh! … staircase." He winced.

Scott continued to moan as he moved upwards. "Steve? Hello? Anyone up there?" He flicked his earpiece, hoping that the lacing response was just his radio device.

"I think I'm just… gonna rest for a few." He breathed, "could really use some help!" He hinted. There was a bang from down below, capturing Scott's attention. He peered down the spiral stairwell, and saw the door laying on the floor. A large rush of soldiers and Sokovian riot control stormed in, their boots clanking heavily as they hit the old wooden stairs.

"Uh, guys! We're not alone anymore! Sokovians with big guns and armor are now running up here!"

Scott waited for a response.

Nothing came.

 _This won't be good…_

A loud rumble occurred, and Scott looked behind him, through a window in the stairwell, to see the building next to them completely collapse. It crashed and fell into a large pile of dust, the rumbling and power of the falling building shook his body.

His heart rate increased, and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body as he pushed himself up the stairs once more.

 _Pain, pain, pain. Ow, ow, ow. Hurting, hurting, hurting. Gahh. I. Am. Going. To. Hurt. Steve. Once. I. Get…_ Scott froze, and looked up the stairwell. There were only about six steps left to climb now… however, Cap stood at the top of the staircase, his back facing Scott and his gaze staring lonely into the distance. He was now in full uniform as well.

"Oh! Thank God! Steve! We've gotta get out of here. There's a-" Scott stopped himself, and pushed backwards into the corner. The rush of boots and soldiers got closer and closer. Something was wrong. Steve was groaning, his posture so tense he could barely move, his body and veins spasming in force. It was as if someone had given him too much caffeine, and then told him not to move an inch.

"FREEZE!" Came a thundering shout from next to Scott. He turned towards the oncoming soldiers, and immediately shrunk to ant size with muscle memory, barely missing the gunfire. The soldiers shouted at each other in Sokovian, but all Scott could figure out was that the soldiers chose to continue pushing up the stairs.

 _No, no, no! Don't go up there, something's not right!_ He pleaded in his head. "Steve! Do something!" He shouted into his helmet.

"We have an infected! Open fire!" One of the lead soldiers shouted, in a very clear and thick Scottish accent.

A fury of bullets fired, and Steve snapped. He moved swiftly, leaving only a large, blurry blue shape moving back and forth gracefully between targets.

 _Oh my God…_ Scott breathed, watching Cap snapping each neck with ease. He twisted and turned, even grabbing a side-arm from the holster of one man, and used his body as a shield, forcing the other soldiers to resist firing while he picked them off one by one with the hand-gun.

 _What have you done?_ Scott fell down, and pushed himself as far as he could into the corner, somehow trying to get as far away as he could from him. The pain in his leg now started to make him woozy, and nauseous.

Steve shot the last man standing in front of him, and threw his human body shield down to the ground underneath him, throwing a final blow directly between the man's eyes. He checked the stairway, making sure that all of the threats were eliminated. He then looked down, directly at Scott, even in his ant-size.

At this point, Scott was now able to get a good look at him. His eyes were solid black, and two golden pupils danced in the center. His face and cheek looked torn up, like he had an awful rash. He wondered if it covered the rest of his body as well… But, without a doubt, he was definitely infected.

Steve chuckled, and began to walk away, not acknowledging Scott as a threat. He took one last breathe, watching Steve climb onto the ledge of the roof.

"Steve…" He muttered.

The last thing Scott could remember, was Cap leaping off the 3-story building. Then, everything went black.


End file.
